Riddle
by BrassRing184
Summary: No one would have him except for her. No one. He ment everything to her. and she would go to all lengths to obtain the surname: Riddle.
1. Foward

Screams echoed throughout the wood of Little Hangleton

Screams echoed throughout the wood of Little Hangleton. Screams that had echoed in her head after every beating. From time and expierence Merope had learned never to fight back and to take what her father told her she deserved. He would never think twice about who to blame for anything that went wrong in his household. Whatever in his mind was out of place Merope would receive the brunt of his temper. This was one of her luckier times where the beatings hadn't come yet. She knew they would before the row was over but the tiniest bit of hope remained within her that he would spare the blows this time. Sobbing on the floor he was shouting at her to pick up the fallen dinner dish that lay in pieces at his feet.

"Pick it up! I said PICK IT UP!" As her father began to kick her Merope's tears and wails of desperation became even more profound. Terrified human instinct took hold of her body and she curled up into a ball on the floor. Not knowing what else she could do to defend herself against him she lay there weeping like a rag doll being torn to pieces.

She had dropped that evenings dinner on the floor by mistake and the meal she had prepared now lay around her, sticking to her hair and clothes as she was brutally stomped upon by the large man.

"st-stop, please stop." She mumbled weakly. Her father looked down at her with disgrace. Snarling he grabbed her by her hair and forced her head so that she was looking at him.

"You think that you, a worthless piece of trash, has authority to even speak to me!" He roared. She flinched at the loudness in his voice. "Who's going to save you now? Your little mudblood lover? Is he guna save you? Do you think that I would allow anything of that sort to happen under my roof!?" He began screaming at her with more insults and curses still holding her head tight with a grip that was threatening to tear the roots from her scalp. She silently whispered a prayer that someone would come, any one would come to save her. Little did she know that within the hour her prayer would be answered.

**One year later:**

As she lay in bed Merope let her fingertips brush ever so lightly against the scar that lay strangely upon her calf muscle. A flash back of those horrible memories that haunted her dreams painfully burst through her thoughts. Thinking back on it now a little over a year later her past and it seemed like all a bad dream. A nightmare that she couldn't rid herself from. She now took up the task of teaching herself what she had been deprived of for so very long. It was her heritage and yet was never permitted to be a part of it. After the day her father had been taken from her, she found herself reading and experimenting with the old spell books she had found in his study. They had taken her brother as well leaving her in the house with everything from the pots and pans down to the last of the spell books. She was grateful for this seeing as it taught her the smallest of all things that she had only dreamed of someday being capable of.

Everyone has a story, a past a history of some sort that they either want to boast about or keep hidden. No one ever wants anyone to know about the secrets they want to keep hidden. Starting over is what you do in life when things turn around for you. Merope, starting over, will never let her past be discovered. By anyone. Even if it means using her magic to keep it that way.


	2. ch1

As the potion brewed in the cauldron over the flames Merope turned the page of the spell book she was using as a guide. She had become quite good at potion making by now and enjoyed it as past time. She had even used some to change her appearance. She now had longer more wavy locks of brunet hair that fell to the middle of her back, and piercing blue eyes. The rest of her beauty was natural. After the departure of her father and brother she now had the time and the freedom to do what she pleased. In this case actually take care of herself. Fair skin that was lightly bronzed at the cheek bones from working in the garden where dotted with freckles were lightly spread. Now that there was no soot to hide her features she had a radiant glow about her that filled a room leaving it with nothing but a warm feeling of happiness. She did however keep the scars of her old beatings behind and did nothing to change or hide them. Leaving the marks behind on her body was a symbol to her and a remembrance that she would never let something happen like it again. Ever.

As she stirred the clear liquid it began to bubble. She smiled to herself and knew that she had added the ingredients correctly. She always took pride in her work when she accomplished something new. Mostly because it proved to her that she wasn't the worthless being her father had made her out to be. Proving her father wrong was all she did these days. Teaching herself how to be a better person, a better witch was even more of an achievement than she thought she could ever reach.

As the bubbles subsided she looked down at the now tinted pink concoction and added the last factor to the brew and stood back to wait and watch what would happen. Holding her breath with fingers crossed she now waited. After two minutes of simmering the potion began to bubble over again but once meeting with the stone floor disappeared into pink smoke. She giggled as the potion began to move the cauldron from side to side with gentle jerks. She had finally got it. After weeks of practice and tireless work she had mastered the forget me not potion. She danced on her tip toes as she took a flask of the draught and bottled it. She took her wand and quickly labeled it with a paper strip that stuck to the side of the glass jar. She then took a quill from the inkwell that rested in the desk beside her and in her loopy cursive wrote: forget me not. Still smiling she placed it on the shelf above the mantel with the rest of her accomplished potions that sat like trophies and began to clean up the now gooey residue that stuck to the inside of her cauldron. With a flick of her wand she gathered it up and let it hover out the open window into the garden. Resting itself between the blooming flowers and sinking into their roots. In her experience and knowledge from her spell books it made for great planting soil. The garden that she had tended to while her father and brother were still living with her had grown beyond what she had ever thought possible. Without the daily trampling and stomping from her brother it had doubled in size and splendor.

After finishing in the kitchen she put the now shining copper pots and pans to work and lit the old stove that she had been once a slave too. She waved her wand in the general direction of the clinking sounds and let the steak fall into the pan with a splat. It began to sizzle with the heat from underneath and flipped itself over every so often to make sure it cooked evenly. After it had cooked itself medium rare it slid from the pan onto a blue china plate and following directly by the greens she had begun to steam right after the meat had been started. Sitting down at the kitchen table she summoned a fork and steak knife to her and began to cut and eat her evening meal. She sighed as she kept a bite of steak in her mouth lightly sucking the flavor while thinking to herself how much she would have enjoyed a friend during the dinner hour. Her father and brothers company were not wanted in the slightest but the thought of not having a companion, a lover, someone, was overwhelming. She knew that no one in the village would ever think of coming near her cottage because of the reputation her father and brother had established. But at the same time if she went into town even if people didn't recognize her as soon as she brought them back to her home they would know exactly who she was. But more importantly they would judge her because of the actions her family had displayed in the past. The thought of moving had come to her many times. Beginning a new life under a new name in a new house with a whole new identity. But after thinking it through she couldn't bring herself to do it. Knowing she was a witch was one thing but living a lie was something else, something she couldn't accomplish on her own.

No one knew she still lived in the cottage. In fact she didn't even think they knew she existed. The only thing keeping them away from the household was probably the bad luck and jinxes they thought they would obtain if they came near it. She didn't mind being left alone and not bullied but the town's folk but at the same time longed for friends and a family. Something she knew she would never have as long as she lived with her fathers' name. The one thing he still had over her. Even thousands and thousands of miles away in a locked cell he could still silently torture her. Not with his fists or words but with loneliness.


	3. ch2

A/N: I don't own anything of Harry Potter, just the partial plot to my fanfiction

A/N: I don't own anything of Harry Potter, just the partial plot to my fanfiction.

As she reached for the apple that rested between two others Merope opened the disposable bag that was provide at the end of crate of fruit. She was at the local convenience store buying some much needed groceries. Being a witch made her life much easier than a muggels but being what she was didn't mean she didn't need to get out some. Every so often instead of using her garden as a source for veggies and fruits she would stretch her legs, well, rather apperate, outside the town of Little Hangleton and do some normal shopping. She would use conjured muggel money and buy simple household items that she was running low on.

After putting her fruit in the plastic bag she gently placed the food in her carrying basket that held her shopping. She glanced down at the list she had made before leaving the house and saw that she still needed some flower seeds for her garden. She existed out into the fenced in garden area of the store and began to brows through the different planting packets and their seeds. Just as she reached for the sunflowers however she heard two of the employees talking about a wedding.

"Yes! That's what I heard too!" said the one woman. "That he's marrying the girl because of her looks. It's a shame really, I mean the family name was so well kept for so long."

"After his parents though I guess he's feeling rather lonely." Said the other. "I mean look at the whole picture, Toms' been through a lot the past year. Loosing his parents, having to live by himself with no one but the aid, I mean she's all he's got left besides the money and the house." Mereopes' heart was pounding. ' there has to be a mistake! They cant be talking about Tom 'Riddle', he would never get married just like that!'

"No, that's true Beth but you also have to realize Cecilia Wright is only marrying Thomas Riddle for that purpose: the money and the house."

"I agree, are you going by the way? I got my invite a week ago." As the women went back to watering the plants Merope stood there feeling her heart break. This cant be happening! She thought to herself. This will not happen another voice said in the back of her head. And her moment of grief and sadness was overcome with an anger that she felt rise inside of her. no one would have him except for her. no one. She quickly paid for her items and hurried to the outskirts of town looking back to see the people she could never talk to, the town she could never live in and the man that she could now never marry. She apperated, Silent tears running down her face.

The Riddle house was a beautiful, well kept, orderly residence that put every other to shame. None of the other flats were nearly as nice as it and quite frankly no one tried to compete with the residence. Tom Riddle whose father and mother had just recently passed away, was engaged to his fiancé Cecilia Wright. She was a very pretty woman. Long flowing locks of golden blond hair hung to her waist. With sapphire blue eyes, and fair skin that was blushed at the cheeks. After Toms' parents had passed she had moved in with him. He asked because he thought it too lonely for one man in the many roomed home. After agreeing to live with him he had shortly after asked her to marry him. They had set a date and mailed the invitations, sealed with the hot wax Riddle family crest. Cecilia was nothing but astounded and overjoyed at the thought of marrying the man that would complete her trophy collection. He meant absolutely nothing to her but his name and worth was a different story. No one within at least five counties was as wealthy as the Riddle family all she had to do was get rid of him after the marriage was complete. His parents had been easy to get rid of slipping them the toxins when they had her over for dinner one night, she had laughed after she had come home from the funeral. Becoming a Riddle was nothing short of royalty to her. And she intended to be a queen.

Out in the woods on the other side of the valley however, was a certain witch who was forming a plan. A plan to never let the couple say their vows, exchange rings or even say I do. After hearing the latest gossip of the Riddle and Wright wedding she had cried but almost instantly pulled herself together. She would never loose the man she had secretly longed for for so long much less be taken from her by some stupid attractive teenager that was marrying him for all the wrong reasons. She wouldn't let it happen. This is what drove her to look up the potion that would set things the way she wanted. To make her future and her wish come true even at expense of others. As she finally found what she was looking for she smiled to herself. Thomas Riddle would be hers. That she knew of. What she was looking forward to was the look on Cecilia's face when her bright future of a husband and family were shattered. She didn't deserve it. What hardships had she been through? How many years had she longed for his affection before she had received it in return? Why did she really want to marry him? Merope knew that she had encountered absolutely no troubles, growing up in a high upper class family and that she had probably manipulated him into loving her in the first place, not only that but she didn't even want him for his love, only his wealth and estate, bearing him children would only lock and seal the deal that she would never be kicked out or divorced by him. She would not let this happen to him, to her. At all costs, she would make sure that it was herself who would carry the surname "Riddle".


	4. ch3

bA/N: I don't own anything of Harry Potter, just the partial plot to my fanfiction

A/N: I don't own anything of Harry Potter, just the partial plot to my fanfiction.

I would also like to add that I made a mistake in my previous chapters.

1. Merope's father is only sentenced to 6 months in Azkaban. He arrives home an Merope is already married an moved away. In the first chapter I have it being ONE YEAR later I know this is incorrect according to the books but am going to keep it the way it is. (:

2. In the original books Voldomort does kill his father AND grandparents in the beginning of the "Goblet of Fire". However I am going to keep with the story I am writing to the plot line that I had made mistakes an all haha. Thank you to the reviewer who pointed this out to me. Please, if I am wrong on anything else let me know so that I can post an's so that people don't get confused. Thanks.

-BrassRing184

Cecilia Wright circled the large round library in the Riddle mansion. Letting her fingers trace lightly over the spines of the thickly dusted books. She was looking for a certain one in particular and knew she was close to finding it. The letters on the backs of the dusty volumes finally came to 'R'. Squinting her eyes as if in concentration she examined books more closely now that she was near the one she was looking for.

"Aha." She breathed as she pulled out the un-dusted leather text book of information. On the front in fancy loopy font was the name: 'RIDDLE'. She sat down in one of the cushioned leather chairs. There were coffee tables residing at the feet incase someone wished to place their drink or food. Cecilia however had neither, completely immersed in the gigantic book that held the Riddle families: secrets; map to their estate; recipes and so much more. Also a surprisingly a heavy gold bookmark with the Riddle family crest on it a large emerald tassel hanging at the end.

She turned to the page that the last person had marked and was astounded to see exactly what she was looking for: The Riddle Family Tree. The top of the page read in large bold letters. She smiled to herself. It was what she had assumed all along. There were no more living heirs to the Riddle families riches besides Tom. Oh how clueless he was that everything he owned would soon be hers. The way of getting rid of him was slowly but surely forming in her mind and would soon be complete but there was one more thing she needed to take care of before her big day. A child. Something that would keep her in the sympathy corner rather than the spotlight of guilt if things went wrong. No one would suspect a pregnant woman of killing her husband even if he was the biggest snob in the world.

The truth was Cecilia couldn't stand Tom. The only reason that she agreed to go out with him on that first date was because her friends thought she could probably get expensive gifts and maybe one day become eye candy for other men that she might actually be interested in later on down the road.

"You know! They'll want you because they can't have you!" Her best friend Martha had told her the night of the first date. "Don't worry it'll all be worth it in the end!" They laughed together at the thought. But now alone in the dusty round room Cecilia laughed to herself.

"Oh how true you were Marty, oh how true you were."

Sitting in her favorite chair, Merope had a spell book resting on her lap. Her freshly squeezed pumpkin juice sitting beside her on an old end table next to her as the warm setting sun poured in through the bubble glass window. She took a sip while opening the pages of the heavy hardback and ran her forefinger down the list of contents listed in the beginning. She had left little checks next to the ones she had already mastered and few were left with nothing next to them. She used her markings as a means of finding what she was looking for, for she knew that she hadn't tried the potion that she needed. Never letting her attention wander from her book she didn't even realize the drossiness taking over her body. Finding at last what she was searching for she turned to page three-thousand-sixty-nine. (The book contained a expanding charm that allowed the book to contain over four thousand pages but only leading the reader at a first glance to think nothing more of it than a dictionary.) The Love Potion. The page had a silver glowing star shimmering next to the footnote at the bottom. Reading next to it was: WARNING: this potion is marked because of the danger it may cause to the one who consumes it. It has been tested on muggles an wizards only DO NOT attempt to use this potion on your pets. Thank you and happy brewing. Merope smiled to herself. She had her plan set, she had the materials she needed, all that was missing was the exciting end to the Riddle and Wright wedding and she would be home free. No one would have Thomas Riddle accept for her. No one would harm what fate had planned so perfectly for her. No one.

"Tom please? I promise only for tonight we can wait until after the wedding to do it again. Please Tom? I just want to be with you." Cecilia was now cooing her fiancé to come to bed with her. He however did not want to have relations until after their wedding.

"Cecilia, please, I'm tired. I had a rough day today and I'm not in any mood." He sighed. He thought that this statement would wound her ego and that she would be unpleasant until the morning came but on the contrary it only urged her further. She crawled up behind him were he was sitting at the end of the bed and hugged him from behind. She rested her head between his shoulder and neck and whispered:

"All the more reason for me to put you in a good one." And she slowly began to kiss the smooth skin that her chin had rested on. Working her way up to his jaw line and gently turning him towards her. Obeying her actions he let his arms encircle her waist that was only covered by a silk robe. As his face turned to hers, before he could think twice about letting her do what she was about to do she did it and kissed him on the mouth. Her tongue silently begging for his mouth to part so she could kiss him more fully. Almost pulling away, he denied her. But as she gently pushed his shoulders back onto the bed so that she hovered atop of him, it was all he could do to keep from touching her and he begrudgingly granted her the access that she wanted. 'This is all too easy.' She thought to herself.


End file.
